AND EXPERIMENT STATION. 133 



used most effectively as a screen or wind break. It is propa- 

 gated from cuttings. 



RUSSIAN Willows. A number of varieties of the willow 

 have been imported from Russia which give promise of useful- 

 ness in this State. Among the best- of these is Salix fragilis, a 

 red willow, and a variety sent out by the Iowa Agricultural Col- 

 lege as as No. 106 Vor., this latter is very ornamental, having 

 bright yellow twigs. Among other forms grown only for orna- 

 ment may be mentioned the Laurel Leaved Willow and ^S. Na- 

 polconis a trailing or weeping form. 



Box KIJDBR (Neguudo Aceroides}. This treej has more of 

 the elements of a valuable nurse tree than any of the native 

 species. It is a rapid grower while young, is a good neighbor, 

 can be easily grown from seed which can be secured along the 

 streams of the state, and when five years old, planted four feet 

 apart both ways, trees of this variety will shade the ground so 

 completely that further cultivation is unnecessary. It is com- 

 parative.ly free from insect enemies. Its leaves decay more 

 readily than those of cottonwood, and it is hence a soil improver. 

 With good cultivation it grows rapidly while young in either 

 high or low land, and its slower growth with age is an advan- 

 tage in mixed planting, as it is a shade enduring tree and will 

 live in the shade of more valuable kinds that are of slower growth 

 in youth. The wood of box elder, while regarded by many as 

 making better fuel than cottonwood, is not greatly superior to it 

 for other purposes. Sugar has been made from the sap of box 

 elder in quantities sufficient to warrant a further trial of the ex- 

 periment. In quality box elder sugar is said to be equal to 

 that made from hard maple. 



SOFT MAPLK (Acer.dasyc&rpum). This species iscommon in 

 the native groves along the rivers in the Southern part of the 

 State, but is less common in the central part and almost dis- 

 appears at the north. Where perfectly hardy it is as|good a soft 

 wooded, rapid growing tree as we have and can be substituted 

 for box elder to form the greater part of a grove. It retains the 

 habit of rapid growth later in life than box elder, and does not 

 endure shade quite so well, and hence is not quite so desirable 

 as a nurse tree. In the central part of the State it winter kills, 



